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Society
not ready for heat waves coming with climate change – ‘The power
grid can’t handle it’
Health officials are better prepared for heat waves than they used to be, but they have more to do in the face of climate change, experts say.
7
July, 2012
By
Oren Dorell, USA TODAY
6
July 2012
Health
officials are better prepared for heat waves than they used to be,
but they have more to do in the face of climate change, experts say.
"Nationally
and internationally we are much more aware of the danger of extreme
heat than we were in 1995," says sociologist Eric Klinenberg,
author of Heat Wave: A social autopsy of disaster in Chicago, about
the three-day heat wave that caused 739 excess deaths and thousands
of hospitalizations in 1995.
"We're
more prepared than we were in 1995. A lot of Americans are still
vulnerable, and our power grid is vulnerable, too."
Medical
workers reported few problems related to the past week's heat wave in
parts of the USA that suffered extreme temperatures but were spared
Friday night's storms that knocked out power to more than 3 million
customers.
But
in the District of Columbia, where heat and power outages struck
together, sick patients at home who rely on electronic medical
devices suffered doubly, and hospitals had to improvise, says Bill
Frohna, chairman of the emergency department at MedStar Washington
Hospital Center. "Before the storm came we saw some heat-related
stuff, but once you throw the power issue on top of the heat,
families didn't know what to do," Frohna said. "When no one
has power they don't have a backup plan."
Even
the Washington hospital had a plan for heat and a plan for outages,
but not a plan for the two together, Frohna said.
After
storms cut power to millions, hospital workers Saturday saw a spike
in patients with chronic diseases who need electricity to operate
home dialysis units and machines that deliver intravenous fluids,
medications, tube feedings and oxygen, Frohna said. […]
In
Indiana, where the heat wave has been going strong for a week, 153
emergency patients visited the state's emergency rooms for
heat-related issues in all of last week, says Amy Reel, spokeswoman
for the Indiana State Department of Health. The number of
heat-related injuries has been relatively small because everyone is
taking the heat seriously, says Wishard Hospital emergency physician
John Boe. "There's more awareness of how dangerous this kind of
weather can be," Boe said. […]
Boe,
who teaches at Indiana University's Department of Emergency Medicine,
says the Chicago heat wave of 1995 was a turning point in his field.
"In
our teachings, they always talk about the Chicago heat wave," he
said.
Multiple
factors led to the high death toll of the Chicago heat wave,
Klinenberg says. High humidity combined with triple-digit heat and
little nighttime cooling to turn the lakeside city into a furnace.
Mayor Richard Daley and the city's fire and health commissioners were
away on vacation. And the city failed to implement its plan for
extreme heat, Klinenberg says.
High
demand for electricity caused outages, and much of the city lost
water as residents opened hydrants to cool off and then fought with
city officials trying to close them. Most of the fatalities were
elderly, isolated bachelors in the poorest sections of town,
Klinenberg says.
Even
worse disasters happened in Europe in 2003, when 70,000 excess deaths
were caused by an extreme heat event that lasted three weeks, and in
Russia in 2010, when a heat wave caused 50,000 excess deaths. […]
Klinenberg
says cities such as Washington, Philadelphia and New York City are
ill prepared.
"We
need to make sure that cities can get through the worst heat wave,"
he says. "In New York City, police officers drive through
streets using loudspeakers asking people to turn down their air
conditioning during the day. The power grid can't handle it."
Top
20 Cities with Billions at Risk from Climate Change
6
July, 2012
By
2050, more than 6 billion humans are expected to live in cities,
according to the United Nations. Ports, which constitute more than
half the world's largest cities, will face unique challenges as their
populations swell.
More
than 130 port cities around the world are at increasing risk from
severe storm-surge flooding, damage from high storm winds, rising and
warming global seas and local land subsidence. Poorly planned
development often puts more people in vulnerable areas, too,
increasing risk. About $3 trillion of assets are at risk today, a
tally on track to reach $35 trillion by 2070, according to an ongoing
study by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.
Here
are the 20 port cities most vulnerable to climate extremes, ranked by
assets at risk.
For
slideshow GO HERE
U.S.
Drought Monitor shows record-breaking expanse of drought
More
of the United States is in moderate drought or worse than at any
other time in the 12-year history of the U.S. Drought Monitor,
officials from the National Drought Mitigation Center at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln said today
7
July, 2012
By
Kelly Helm Smith, National Drought Mitigation Center; Steve Smith,
University Communications
Analysis
of the latest drought monitor data revealed that 46.84 percent of the
nation’s land area is in various stages of drought, up from 42.8
percent a week ago. Previous records were 45.87 percent in drought on
Aug. 26, 2003, and 45.64 percent on Sept. 10, 2002.
Looking
only at the 48 contiguous states, 55.96 percent of the country’s
land area is in moderate drought or worse – also the highest
percentage on record in that regard, officials said. The previous
highs had been 54.79 percent on Aug. 26, 2003, and 54.63 percent on
Sept. 10, 2002.
"The
recent heat and dryness is catching up with us on a national scale,”
said Michael J. Hayes, director of the National Drought Mitigation
Center at UNL. “Now, we have a larger section of the country in
these lesser categories of drought than we’ve previously
experienced in the history of the Drought Monitor."
The
monitor uses a ranking system that begins at D0 (abnormal dryness)
and moves through D1 (moderate drought), D2 (severe drought), D3
(extreme drought) and D4 (exceptional drought).
Moderate
drought’s telltale signs are some damage to crops and pastures,
with streams, reservoirs or wells getting low. At the other end of
the scale, exceptional drought includes widespread crop and pasture
losses, as well as shortages of water in reservoirs, streams and
wells, creating water emergencies. So far, just 8.64 percent of the
country is in either extreme or exceptional drought.
"During
2002 and 2003, there were several very significant droughts taking
place that had a much greater areal coverage of the more severe and
extreme drought categories,” Hayes said. “Right now we are seeing
pockets of more severe drought, but it is spread out over different
parts of the country.
"It’s
early in the season, though. The potential development is something
we will be watching."
The
U.S. Drought Monitor is a joint endeavor by the National Drought
Mitigation Center at UNL, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and drought
observers across the country.
To
examine the monitor’s current and archived national, regional and
state-by-state drought maps and conditions, go to
http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu.
4500 record highs broken: Jet stream pulled up towards Canada, ‘out of whack’ says U.S. meteorologist
7 July, 2012
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